Out of the Ashes, Into the Fire
by NinJess
Summary: A devastating natural disaster has left the clans we know and love in ruin... will the handful of cats leftover find a way to survive? Or will the shadow in the dark finish them off once and for all?
1. Allegiances :: Chapter 1 : Playtime

Allegiances

**The Remnants:**

Mistyfoot – a dark blue gray she-cat with blue eyes and a graying muzzle.

Thornclaw – Golden brown tabby tom

Sorreltail – Tortoiseshell and white she-cat with amber eyes

Littlecloud – tabby tom

Whitetail – small white she-cat

Ashfoot – gray she-cat

Swallowtail – dark gray she-cat

Reedwhisker – black tom

Molekit – Gray and white tom

Honeykit – Golden tabby she-cat

Poppykit – Tortoiseshell and white she-cat

Cinderkit – Gray she-cat

**The Newcomers:**

Owl – a large white she-cat with gray stripes and darker gray flecks, especially around her muzzle. She is the leader of the new band of cats, and should be noted for her large understanding of the workings of the world. She has large blue eyes, and can transform into a white snow owl at will. Mother of Moon and Shadow.

Moon – large pure white she-cat with huge white wings protruding from her shoulders. She also has a small number of feathers protruding from the back of her neck, elbows, back paws and tail to provide an even flight. Like her mother, she has large round blue eyes.

Shadow – average sized dark gray tom with white flecks along his back legs and tail. Though quiet and does not often speak, Shadow indulges in becoming a dark mist and in evenings listening to conversations. Unlike his sister and mother he has green eyes.

Dew – a small light gray tom with round green eyes. Known in his group as the 'master' of herbs, he can pull water from the smallest amounts of moisture in the air and ground. His knowledge of herbs accounts for the overall health of the small group.

Lily – Dark gray she-cat with white paws and amber eyes. Like Shadow, she has the ability to become a small cloud of mist or fog at will, and can pass through solid objects much as would a ghost.

Coal – ginger tom with black smudges and amber eyes. Has the ability to scorch anything he touches at will, but also known for his flaring mood swings.

Jay – Blue gray tom with large blue-gray and black wings. The tom, like Moon, has a series of feathers along various parts of his body to ensure good flight.

Fidget – small brown she-cat with green eyes, very hyperactive and lacks the ability to stay focused. Always eating, and always hunting. Has developed a great speed and endurance from her boosted nervous system.

Squirrel – dark ginger she-cat with amber eyes and a huge fluffy tail. An extraordinary climber, she can also leap from great heights without injury.

**The Others**

Adder – black she-cat with dark amber eyes. Abilities unknown

Crow – black tom with dark green eyes. Abilities unknown

Frost – black and white tom with blue eyes. Abilities unknown.

Berry – Black she-cat with dark amber eyes. Adder's sister. Abilities unknown.

Soot – Black tom with dark green eyes. Abilities unknown.

"_From the skies drops an answer, from the wind comes the rain, from the lake sings a warning, and from the shadows comes the pain."_

Thornclaw tossed a leaf playfully at one of the kits- the first notion of play the kits had seen in moons, if not their whole memory. Honeykit stared at it blankly, unsure of what to do. He flicked it with his tail, springing it forward, and her hunter instinct caught up with her. She pounced, tearing at the leather-like flesh of the unfortunate plant. Molekit, her brother, sprang forward from the lump of sleeping youths, pawing at her frantic tail. The two tussled, one trying to pin the other until finally Honeykit sat triumphantly on her brother's flank.

It was this senseless play that Thornclaw missed seeing the most. Sorreltail had been careful to shield them from too much, afraid it would damage their development to see themselves not in the comforts or near the smells of Thunderclan… but the evidence of trauma and change was everywhere, and one mother could not stop the rolling change of a dying lakeside.

Swallowtail, the pretty Riverclan she-cat, strolled towards him with a large mouse in her jaws.

"Want to share?" she mewed, having placed it as an offering between the two. Thornclaw's eyes narrowed at the idea of sharing prey with a cat from a different clan, but he dipped his head. What did it matter now, what blood ran through what veins, when the clans were reduced to a handful of weak wild cats? Her scent even now was beginning to fade, but Thornclaw could still detect the oil of fish and the thick scent of mud and reeds in her pelt.

"I've not seen them play like that since today. You've got to wonder how they perceive all this." Thornclaw muttered.

Swallowtail took the first bite of the mouse before passing it to him. It smelled tempting, but he hadn't felt like eating for quite a few days. Still, his body needed food, if his mind didn't.

"I never thought one clan could become so few…" she murmured. Hurt was thick in her voice, but that wasn't uncommon. Every cat had lost most, if not all of their family. Thornclaw let his memory be dragged back to when his own family was still in the waking world.

_Brakenfur beamed at him, his eyes alight with the prosperous future as he announced his future as a father. Thornclaw had always seen him a wonderful father, but a twinge of regret had always pricked in Thornclaw's paws when he thought about his own future, especially whenever Cinderpelt was around._

_The gray she-cat was strolling into the nursery, escorting Sorreltail into her new home for the next several moons. If only she hadn't… it wouldn't have mattered. Love for the medicine cat was a fantasy at best, but he'd always wondered what would've happened if she hadn't been struck on that thunderpath. _

_His job now was as a warrior, and if that path was a lonely one, Thornclaw would have to swallow that destiny as a mouse would his own bile. This moment, this promise of new generations, new paws in the clan…and the blood of his own closest friend! Even the thought of badgers couldn't hamper the electricity in the camp. _

"Aren't you hungry?"

Thornclaw cringed as the words broke into his happy daydream, and Brakenfur's golden face vaporized like morning mist.

"Fine." He muttered, not really paying attention to the she-cat's rambling. He got up and stretched, not noticing how stiff he was. "I'm going hunting." He turned too fast for Swallowtail to respond, and bounded over a small bit of brush into the forest of the Gathering Place.

**A/N: Sorry for the cut-off in thought, but I don't want to reveal too much of what has happened here. It'll be shown to you all through flashbacks over the next few chapters! Why is Swallowtail sharing prey with Thornclaw? Where's Brakenfur? More importantly, why in Starclan are they in Gathering Place? ….stay tuned ;D**


	2. Chapter 2 :: Restless Night

Though Gathering Place wasn't that large of a territory to be had, the amount of prey was more than bountiful for the handful of mouths to feed. Thornclaw brought back a squirrel and a mouse, his mouth cramping from the amount of weight he carried. He dropped it on the pile with a sigh of relief, and took the mouse, having eaten close to nothing if anything from his previous shared meal with Swallowtail. Looking around, he couldn't find her anywhere, and a pang of sorrow echoed at his loss of a companion.

Honeykit and Molekit were playfighting again outside their mother's den, pulling at one another's ears and tails. Poppykit looked on from her little post on a rotted stump, and Cinderkit howled for her mother, afraid they would hurt one another. Sorreltail sprang out of the den, but shushed her rowdy kit with her tail when she saw none of her kits were harmed.

It felt good to finally take notice of the little things. Mistyfoot and Ashfoot were on the overhanging branches where the leaders would normally sit for gatherings, chatting about something just out of earshot. Whitetail and Reedwhisker, the other survivors, sat grooming one another in a patch of sunlight. With a start, Thornclaw couldn't find Littlecloud, the Shadowclan medicine cat, until he came at a fast pace from behind the rock that served as his den. With a little trouble from his older limbs he climbed one of the trees and met the two deputies on the branches. Both had an alarmed look on their faces, quickly hidden by sharp interest. Almost at once Mistyfoot rose to her paws, calling the small group together.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the branches for a meeting." She howled, not having to wait more than a few moments for Reedwhisker and Whitetail to stop their flirting session. Swallowtail appeared from the dirtplace, and Sorreltail herded her kits into the nursery before joining beneath the branches.

"Littlecloud has brought us both promising but alarming news." Ashfoot mewed, careful not to let Mistyfoot overstep her own standing as a deputy. Thornclaw could sense a power struggle between the two, but they didn't show the strain of it. "Starclan has finally spoken again, but whether the meaning was to worry us or strengthen us was unclear. We'll let him explain."

Littlecloud seemed a little frightened of speaking in front of so many, but his little voice carried once he began. "While I was gathering catnip by the lakeside, Starclan sent me a sign. A white feather fell into the herbs I was using, but when I looked up I was on the other side of the lake. I was far up, and it was dark- I noticed the moon was full and I was headed towards the Gathering Place….I can't explain it, it felt like I was flying. But why would Starclan have sent me a vision in the body of a bird?" The last question seemed to himself.

From behind, Swallowtail mewed.

"The moon was full? That means whatever you saw will happen tomorrow."

"But what will happen tomorrow? A giant bird will fall in and tuck us into bed?" Sorretail retorted, seeing nothing of meaning in this meeting. Her mood had progressively gotten worse since the clans died away.

Littlecloud looked hurt, but stood his ground. "Has Starclan sent you any visions? This is the first time they've contacted us since…" he let his voice trail away, not wanting to continue.

_It felt like yesterday, the same place only dark with the moon high above their heads. Firestar looked down from his proud stance on the thick branches, his pelt revealing the thinning fur and bones jutting out from underneath. Leopardstar, beside him, looked worse off, her pelt dusty and her eyes sunken into her skull._

"_Thunderclan is faring well…worse than before, but the sickness seems to be waving off a little." He stepped back, having nothing further to say._

_Onestar stepped forward, his voice wispy as the air around them. "Windclan has lost our only elder, Morningflower, as well as Nightcloud. We will miss them both."_

_The normal intake of breath was lost in the swelling wave of sorrow- was there no end to it?_

That night, the group slept fitfully. Whitetail continued to twist and turn in her nest, while Swallowtail kept mewing in her sleep, her paws twitching. Mistyfoot and Ashfoot did not open their eyes, but kept their ears alert for any uncommon noises. The kits' mewling could be heard across the clearing, prominently Poppykit, complaining that Molekit wouldn't give her any room.

If one vision could cause so much stir, could it also cause so much hurt, when nothing but a massive dove flew by? A day's work would soon tell…if they could only sleep through the night.

**A/N: Hoot Hoot. **


End file.
